Search form

Main menu

Organic Farming Research Foundation works to foster the improvement and widespread adoption of organic farming systems. OFRF cultivates organic research, education, and federal policies that bring more farmers and acreage into organic production.

March 2, 2015 - Dole has launched a month-long sales promotion that will contribute $1 to Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF) for every box of DOLE®Organic pineapples sold in the U.S. and Canada from March 1-31. The promotion benefits not only OFRF and Dole’s network of organic producers, but also millions of winter-weary North Americans in need of a tropical pick-me-up.

“Is it too cold to have some friends over for organic pina colodas?” said OFRF Executive Director Brise Tencer. “I think not!”

Dole, founded in 1899 and one of the world’s largest producers and marketers of fresh fruit and vegetables, is also a leader in sustainable and organic production. Dole began offering organic bananas in 2001, and has since expanded into organic pineapples, vegetables and salad mixes.

February 27, 2015 - The US Department of Agriculture’s Organic Transitions Program (ORG) is seeking applications for $4 million in research grants for fiscal 2015. This year’s grants continue to prioritize environmental services provided by organic farming systems, including soil conservation and climate change mitigation. New priorities for 2015 include development of educational tools for Extension personnel and other agricultural professionals who advise producers on organic practices, and the development of alternatives to substances recommended for removal from the National Organic Program’s list of allowed substances.

February 18, 2015 - Cyanobacteria are versatile organisms, able to generate oxygen, pull nitrogen from the air, and survive in virtually every ecosystem on the planet - all on a diet of sunlight, carbon dioxide and water. Researchers at Colorado State University are now putting these solar-powered microbes, commonly known as blue-green algae, to work producing high-quality organic fertilizer.

A research team led by Jessica Davis, Ph.D., has shown that cyanobacteria can be grown and transformed into high-quality liquid bio-fertilizer on working farms, and that greenhouse vegetables grown with this fertilizer contain high levels of beta-carotene, a key nutrient.

Now, with financial support from Organic Farming Research Foundation, Davis’s team is broadening its analysis of organic fertilizers, aiming to provide farmers with solid data in an area that still relies heavily on industry advertising and anecdotal evidence.

February 18, 2015 - The US Department of Agriculture, which has invested in agricultural research since the late 1800s, only began including organic-specific projects in its massive research portfolio in 2002. But since that date, the agency has plowed more than $142 million into 188 organic farming studies, successfully targeting issues of vital concern to organic farmers, according to a preliminary analysis conducted by the Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF).

Since 2002, USDA funding has produced “a substantial body of research into priority production constraints and other vital issues for organic, transitioning-organic, and sustainable farmers and ranchers,” according to OFRF analyst Mark Schonbeck, who said he was inspired by the “extent, ingenuity and level of farmer involvement” in the agency-funded research.

February 18, 2015 - The staff at OFRF is hard at work updating the National Organic Research Agenda for 2015, and will host its fourth listening session of the winter farming conference season Feb. 26, at the Organic Agriculture Research Symposium (OARS) in LaCrosse, Wisconsin.

Organic farmers, ranchers and researchers are encouraged to contribute information about their needs and challenges, and their thoughts about priority areas of future organic research. OFRF has conducted productive listening sessions this year at the EcoFarm, Organicology and Virginia Biological Farming Association conferences. OFRF will continue to gather input from the organic community with future sessions, and an online survey to be distributed this spring to every certified organic farm in the U.S.